DOCUMENTS: Shots 'extinguished' screams in Pistorius's house

South Africa

Friday 21 February 2014 - 2:11pm

February 21 – New evidence has emerged in the Oscar Pistorius case. Court papers obtained by eNCA show prosecutors concede that the paralympian was most likely on his stumps when he shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
Video: eNCA

The documents are from the prosecution itself. They shed light on the case against Paralympian Oscar Pistorius and includes some startling new claims.
Video: eNCA

The defence was dissatisfied with the answers it got from prosecutors and has gone to court for more information. The state has until Friday to respond to its request.
Video: eNCA

JOHANNESBURG – The prosecution in the Oscar Pistorius murder case says shots fired in the Olympic and Paralympic athlete’s home on Valentine’s Day last year, ‘extinguished’ screams coming from that property.

The latest details are contained in a 25-page document from the prosecution, which eNCA has in its possession.

Witnesses, who lived in the Silver Woods Country Estate in eastern Pretoria, said they heard ‘shots followed by the screams of a woman and then further shots. The screams were extinguished at the same time of the last shots.”

In the document, the State said security guards at the complex phoned Pistorius after the shooting but were told that the situation was ‘fine’. They said he never asked them for assistance and did not make a report about the shooting to them.

A year ago, prosecutors claimed he had cold-bloodedly put on his prosthetic legs, walked into his bathroom, positioned himself against the basin and fired the bullets he knew would kill Steenkamp.

Now, the State’s own ballistics expert has backed Pistorius’s claims that he was on his stumps when he shot Steenkamp.

He also believes Pistorius fired from a distance greater than 60cm from the bathroom door – but closer than 1,5metres originally claimed by police.

The State’s evidence that Steenkamp was standing, facing the door when she was shot contradicts some media reports suggesting she was cowering.

She is believed to have been clothed - wearing a pair of Pistorius’s shorts and one of his t-shirts.

The State has also admitted it did not find testosterone in his home –again an about turn from the former investigating officer’s testimony.

The Prosecution however continues to insist it can prove that Pistorius preplanned Steenkamp’s killing.

Pistorius has claimed he and Steenkamp spent a loving night together. However the State claims his website activites from the time that he got home is in drect contrast to that of a loving couple spending time together.

The State says it can still prove a case of premeditated murder, with witness testimony from some of Pistorius and Steenkamp’s closest friends.

At this stage, however, prosecutors admit they have no clear idea what the motive for the shooting may have been, or what the couple may have argued about in the moments before the shooting.

Read excerpts of the document below. The names of the witnesses have been blacked out to protect their identity.